News
Tesla lowers price of China Model 3 to undercut BMW and Mercedes in strategic play
Tesla reduced the price of its Rear-Wheel Drive Made-in-China (MIC) Model 3 to RMB 299,050 or $42,919 after government subsidies. The price of the mass-produced electric sedan was initially pegged at $50,000, but in a surprise update on Friday, the Elon Musk-led electric carmaker lowered its price beneath a major psychological barrier of RMB 300,000, just days before the significant January 7 date. The price of the Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive Model 3 Long Range and Performance variant remains the same at 439,900 yuan ($63,086) and 509,900 yuan ($73,124), respectively.
The 16 percent price reduction on locally-produced Model 3 is made possible by new energy subsidies recently announced by the Chinese government. Tesla offers as much as RMB 24,750 savings for private purchases and RMB 17,325 for those operating new energy passenger cars. The Tesla China website now displays the adjusted prices of the locally-made Model 3s.
Tesla’s price reduction puts Model 3 in a category that’s strategically aimed at the entry-level luxury sedan category, with concentrations on Mercedes C Class and BMW 3 Series.
The question is if you were a Chinese customer, what would you buy?
1. A Tesla Model 3 starting at ¥299,050
2. A BMW 3 Series starting at ¥313,900
3. A Mercedes C300 starting at ¥308,000— Legacy 🚗 is f**ked (@tesla4k) January 3, 2020
Here comes the first order confirmation right after MIC #Model3 price drop today. More sales are on the way. Now Model 3 costs less than Merc C Class and BMW 3 Series. More young ppl will be able to afford Model 3s. Shoutout to @elonmusk @teslacn pic.twitter.com/A5S8qWcrif
— Ray (@ray4tesla) January 3, 2020
The latest development follows the announcement of the electric carmaker that the second round of Made-in-China Model 3 deliveries will happen on Jan. 7 at the Gigafactory Shanghai facility where the first 15 units of the mass-produced electric sedan were symbolically handed over to employees of Tesla.
The company also revealed during the Gigafactory 3 Delivery Ceremony that 30 percent of the parts used to build the Model 3 in China is locally-sourced, but with plans to completely localize its supply chain and open the possibility to more price adjustments in the future.
The cheaper entry-level Model 3 can help Tesla lure more customers away from local electric car makers and global brands in the largest EV market in the world. Tesla believes China could become the biggest market for its Model 3 and it might well be a key market that can help it achieve sustained profitability.
Recently, Tesla also announced that the Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai has achieved its Model 3 production goal and has been rolling out 280 cars per 10-hour shift or roughly 1,500 units a week. It plans to ramp up production and will likely hit 3,000 Model 3 a week when more production workers join the frontline.
The China arm of the Palo Alto, California-based company has been doing a hiring spree to add more people to help in different production line positions such as quality control, welding, painting, powertrain, and assembly, among others.
The first deliveries of the Made-in-China Model 3 happened exactly 357 days after the Gigafactory facility broke ground, an amazing feat for the first car plant in China wholly owned by a foreign carmaker.
Elon Musk
Tesla schedules Roadster unveiling event, and you won’t believe when it is
Tesla has tentatively scheduled its unveiling event for the Roadster’s next-generation iteration, and you will not believe the date the company picked for it.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting that the company is aiming for an April 1 demo event.
Yes, April Fools’ Day.
🚨 Tesla’s unveiling event for the Roadster Gen 2 is scheduled for April 1, 2026.
Yes, April Fools’ Day. pic.twitter.com/sw09GUYFPV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 6, 2025
Tesla originally aimed for its “most epic demo” to take place at the end of this year. However, the writing on the wall as 2025 winds down seemed to indicate the company was not quite ready to show off everything it plans to implement into the Roadster.
Its capabilities have been teased quite heavily throughout most of the year, but the biggest hints came last week when Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast.
He said:
“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever. [It will be unveiled] hopefully before the end of the year. You know, we need to make sure that it works. This is some crazy technology in this car. Let’s just put it this way: if you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that.”
The Roadster has been somewhat of a letdown, at least in its newest version, thus far. Tesla has routinely delayed the project, putting those who put lofty down payments on the car in a weird limbo, lost at what to do.
One notable pre-orderer cancelled his reservation last week and got in a spat with Musk about it.
Now that there is a definitive date for the Roadster unveiling, Musk and Co. should have a more definitive cutoff date for features and capabilities. Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen said earlier this year that when they showed Musk what they had done with the Roadster, the CEO encouraged them to do even more with it.
This delayed things further.
Musk also said he believes production would begin between 12 and 18 months after the unveiling, putting it out sometime in 2027.
Elon Musk
Tesla (TSLA) shareholders officially approve Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award
To earn his landmark pay package, Musk would be required to lift Tesla’s market capitalization from about $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next decade.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has officially approved his 2025 Performance Award, a landmark pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire and make Tesla the most valuable company in the world by a mile.
The 2025 CEO Performance Award was officially approved by Tesla shareholders at the 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting.
Elon Musk‘s landmark pay package
As per Tesla, more than 75% of the shareholders approved Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award. It was then unsurprising that the approval of Elon Musk’s pay plan received overwhelming applause from the event’s attendees.
The CEO took to the stage with much enthusiasm, welcoming every shareholder to the event and dancing briefly on stage. Optimus also danced on stage smoothly, demonstrating its improved movements to much appause.
Elon Musk’s 10-year targets
To earn his 2025 CEO Performance Award, Musk would be required to grow Tesla’s market capitalization from about $1.1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next decade. At that level, Tesla would surpass every major public company in existence. The compensation plan also requires Tesla’s operating profit to grow from $17 billion last year to $400 billion annually.
Apart from leading Tesla to become the world’s biggest company in history, Musk is also required to hit several product targets for the electric vehicle maker. These include the delivery of 20 million Tesla vehicles cumulatively, 10 million active FSD subscriptions, 1 million Tesla bots delivered, and 1 million Robotaxis in operation.
Elon Musk
Tesla 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting: How to watch
The 2025 Tesla Annual Shareholder Meeting from Gigafactory Texas is set to kick off at 4 p.m. EDT, 3 p.m. CDT.
The company will be having its typical presentation for the event, where CEO Elon Musk, along with other executives will discuss things like future products, the outlook of its self-driving development, potential releases for next year, and some current events within the company.
However, this year’s Shareholder Meeting has slightly more implications than others, as Investors and Shareholders have spent the last several months petitioning and supporting one of the proposals on the docket that could be the deciding factor in Musk staying or leaving Tesla.
Elon Musk’s new pay plan ties trillionaire status to Tesla’s $8.5 trillion valuation
Proposal four outlines a new compensation package for Musk that could give him $1 trillion in shares if he is able to complete a variety of lofty goals related to production, self-driving, and other important company projects.
Musk has said that he is truly after more influence on company decisions, especially as the Tesla Optimus program is ramping up and becoming a more relevant part of the company’s story.
The CEO said during the Q3 Earnings Call that he would not feel comfortable developing an “army of robots” if he did not have a comfortable amount of influence in some of the decisions. He could be voted our or out-influenced by what he calls “activist shareholders.”
One of those investors came after his past pay package, which was approved by shareholders not once, but twice. Musk still was not able to obtain the pay because of a Delaware Chancery Court ruling.
Nevertheless, this is one of the last ditch efforts Tesla is making to get Musk the compensation that he wants.
The meeting is set to kick off at 3 p.m. local time in Austin. You can watch it via the livestream on X:
Here is the link to Tesla’s 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting:https://t.co/29dN4gkMWY
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 6, 2025
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